Draft gears for railway draft riggings



Sept.. 309v 1958 w. E. WITHALL DRAFT GEARS FOR RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGINGSFiled Aug. 1o. 1955 United States DRAFT GEARS FOR RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGNGSWilliam E. Withall, Hinsdale, Ill., assignor to W. H. Miner, Inc.,Chicago, lll., a corporation of Delaware Application August 10, 1955,Serial No. 527,479

4 Claims. (Cl. 213-45) This invention relates to draft gears for railwaydraft riggings.

The main object of the invention is to provide a draft gear for freightservice, in which a metallic casing houses a main resilient columncomposed of a plurality of metalfaced rubber pads of such dimension andcomposition as to give the column high capacity to cushion impacts, incombination with an auxiliary column composed of a plurality ofmetal-faced rubber pads that are thinner than the rubber pads in themain column to enable the auxiliary column to have extremely highcapacity to cushion impacts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a draft gear of the typeset out in the preceding object, in which the pads in the main columnare divided into `groups by stabilizing followers which have heavyflanges that abut together to limit compression of the column.

Another object of the invention is to provide a draft gear of theforegoing type, in which the main and auxiliary columns are separated inthe casing by a follower which carries anges that engage the anges of anadjacent stabilizing follower to limit compression of the main column.

Another object of the invention is to provide a draft gear of theforegoing type, in which the plunger is cupshapedand the auxiliarycolumn is encased in the plunger, the auxiliary column resistingcompression to the extent that the gear has no solid point.

Another object of the invention is to provide a high capacity rubberdraft gear for freight service, that will iit in the yokes and pocketsof existing draft riggings.

Further objects of the invention not specifically mentioned here will beapparent from the detailed description and claims which follow,reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which a preferredembodiment of the invention is shown by way of example and in which:

Figure l is a cross sectional View taken along the horizontal medianline of the gear, looking downwardly;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure l, showing the gear atthe end of one stage of compression; and

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2, showing the gear nearlycompletely compressed.

The gear of the present invention consists of a casing A, from one endof which the plunger B projects and within which casing is a main columnconsisting of pads C and stabilizing separators D, a rear follower E,and a front follower F, and an auxiliary column consisting of pads G.

The casing A is of known design and consists of an upper wall, a lowerwall 11, and side Walls 12 and 13 formed integrally therewith, whichside walls have inwardly extending anges 14 at the front end of thecasing. The top and bottom walls have inwardly extending anges 15 at therear end of the casing.

The plunger B is cup-shaped, consisting of a planar 2,854,149 PatentedSept. 30, 1958 r'ce front wall 16 from which side walls 17 extendrearwardly, terminating in outwardly extending flanges 18 adapted toengage against the flanges 14 on the housing A to hold the plunger inthe casing.

The main column, consisting of pads C, are arranged in the gear shown byway of example, in groups of three each by the stabilizing and aligningfollowers D. Each of the pads C is of known construction, consisting ofparallel plates between which a solid pad of rubber is disposed and towhich the rubber is bonded, the edges of the rubber being formedconcavely to provide space into which the rubber is displaced as the padis compressed. The metal plates carry bosses and indentations of knowndesign for keeping the pads aligned in the column. The pads C are ofsuch dimension and composition as to have high resistance tocompression, thereby to build into the main column high capacities suchas are required in freight service.

The followers D, by which the main column is main tained in alignment inthe casing, each consist of a plate 2t) disposed between adjacent pads Cand around the edges of which are flanges 21 that extend forwardly and.rearwardly of the plate 20. It will be noted that the anges 21 aresomewhat heavier than is customary in anges of this type. Flanges 21have sliding engagement with the walls of the casing, and plates 2i?carry bosses and indentations of known design, all of which aid in.maintaining the main column properly aligned.

rhe rear follower E is similar in construction to the stabilizing andaligning followers D, except that the anges 22 thereon project forwardlyonly, the flanges on the top and bottom of the follower being equippedwith openinffs 23 adapted to be aligned with similar openings 243 in thetop and bottom walls of the casing, as will presently appear.

The front follower F consists of a wall 25 that is approximately twiceas thick as the walls 2 of followers D from the edges of which wall 25flanges 26 project rearwardly, these flanges being of a size similar tothe anges 21.

The auxiliary column G, which is disposed within the plunger B andbetween the front wall 16 thereof and the wall 25 of the front follower,consists of a column of pads, each of which is of construction similarto the` pads C, except that the pad is much thinner than the pads C. Theauxiliary column contains a sufficient number of these thin pads tocompletely fill the space between. the walls 16 and 25.

In assembling the gear, the casing A is placed with the front endlowermost and plunger B is inserted therein. through the open rear endof the casing which is now uppermost. The auxiliary column G is thenassembled in the plunger, after which the front follower F and the maincolumn and followers are inserted. Pressure is then applied to the rearfollower E to compress the columnsl sufficiently to align the openings23 with the openings 24, thereby to permit the insertion of keys, notshown, which hold the columns compressed. The rear wall 30 of thecasing, which is of known construction, is then in* serted and broughtinto registration with the rear follower. Suicient pressure is thenapplied to the rear wall to relieve the pressure on the keys so thatthey may be Withdrawn. Pressure is then relieved gradually and thecolumns expanded, forcing the rear wall 30 into engagement with theflanges 15, thereby to hold the gear tov gether as a unit.

With the gear thus assembled, the main and auxiliary columns are underinitial compression suficient to build up in them initial resistance inthe range required in freight service.

Pressures applied to the gear, either in buff or draft,

3 are transmitted through the plunger B, through the auxiliary column G,to the main column. Since the pads in the auxiliary column are muchthinner than the pads in the main column, the rubber therein preferablybeing approximately one-half as thick as in the mam column pads, greaterforce will be required to produce unit compression of the'auxiliarycolumn. As a result, smaller pressures applied to the plunger servemainly to compress the main column, although of course there will besome slight compression of the auxiliary column produced by suchpressures. Thus, the major part of the travel of the gear is resisted bythe main column compressing that column until the flanges 26, 21 and Z2onthe followers are brought into engagement with each other. Thiscondition marks the limit of compression of the main column and, as willbe noted in Figure 2, the rubber in the pads C then lies substantiallyhush with the edges `of the metal plates to which the pads are bonded.It will also be noted in Figure 2, that at the end of this lirst stageof travel of the gear, the rear ends of the walls 17 of the plunger arespaced away from the front wall 2S of the front follower. The front endsof the walls 17 project beyond the open end of the casing, thereby topermit further travel of the gear. This further travel of the gearcompresses the auxiliary column. Since the rubber pads in the auxiliarycolumn are very thin, the rubber therein being approximately half asthick as the rubber in the main column pads C, their resistance tocompression is very high when compared to the resistance of the pads Cin the main column. As the plunger B moves inwardly of the casing A tocompress the auxiliary column, the rubber therein 'is forced outwardlyinto alignment with the edges of the metal plates to which the rubber isbonded. As will be seen in Figure 3, when the rubber is so aligned, therear ends of the walls 17 of the plunger are in juxtaposition to thewall 25 of the front follower, but do not engage that wall, and thefront wall 16 of the plunger is in juxtaposition to the front end of thecasing A, but still projects therefrom, and the gear has no solid point.

Through the arrangement thus shown, with the pads C in the maincolumndimensioned as shown and composed of rubber composition of properhardness-high capacity is built into the main column, thereby renderingthe gear adaptable to heavy freight service. With the same compositionof rubber incorporated in the pads of the auxiliary column, even higherresistance to compression is obtained since the pads are much thinnerthan the pads of the main column. Through this arrangement,

shocks imposed on the gear in normal operation are K resisted solely bythe main column, and shocks placed upon the gear under abnormalconditions are resisted rst by the main column and then by the auxiliarycolumn, with the result that extremely high resistance is encounteredduring the last portion of travel of the gear.

Having thus complied with the statutes and shown and described apreferred embodiment of my invention, what I consider new and desire Vtohave protected by Letters .Patent is pointed out in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a draft gear for railway draft rigging for freight( service; acasing; a main resilient column in said casing, aligning followers insaid column, and a front follower at the front end of said column;flanges on said followers movable into engagement with each other as thefront follower is moved rearwardly in the casing to limit the rearwardmovement of the front follower in the casing;

a hollow plunger projecting from said casing and having a front wall; anauxiliary resilient column disposed between said front wall and frontfollower; and walls on said plunger extending alongside of saidauxiliary column and projecting from the front wall of the plunger adistance equal to the distance between the front face of said frontfollow-er in said rearmost position and the front end of said casing.

2. ln a draft gear for railway draft rigging for freight service; acasing; a main resilient column within said casing; flanged aligningfollowers within the column; a front follower having rearwardlyextending flanges, the flanges on said followers being engageable witheach other to limit movement -of the front follower rearwardly in thecasing; a plunger having a front Wall and side walls extendingrearwardly therefrom; and an auxiliary resilient column within saidplunger, said auxiliary `column requirhigher pressure to compress itthan required by the main column, said rearwardly extending plungerwalls moving into juxtaposition to said front follower in its rearrnostposition in the casing and the front wall of the plunger moving intojuxtaposition to the front end of the casing as the auxiliary column iscompressed.

3. In a draft gear for. railway draft rigging for freight service; acasing; a resilient main column composed of a plurality of metal-facedrubber pads arranged in groups by aligning followers having heavyflanges engaging the walls of the casing; a hollow plunger projectingfrom the front end of the casing; means for limiting movement of theplunger outwardly of the casing; and an auxiliary resilient columndisposed within said plunger and abutting the front one of said aligningfollowers, said latter `column being composed of a plurality ofmetal-faced rubber pads, each of which is approximately one-half asthick as the pads in the main column, said plunger on l moving inwardlyof the casing rst compressing mainly said main column until said angesengage each other to prevent further compression of the column, furtherinward movement of the plunger compressing said auxiliary column as thefront end of the plunger is moved into juxtaposition to the front end ofthe casing.

4. In a draft gear for railway draft rigging for freight services; ametallic casing of rectangular section open at both ends; iiangesprojecting inwardly from the side walls of the casing at the front endthereof; a cup-'like plunger projecting outwardly fromv the front end ofthe casing; flanges on the side walls of the plunger engaging saidcasing flanges to limit movement of the plunger outwardly of the casing;a plurality of metal-faced rubber pads within said plunger and extendingrearwardly therefrom; a front follower engaging the rear face of therear one of said pads; heavy flanges on said follower projectingrearwardly therefrom and engaging the walls of the casing to positionthe follower therein; a main resilient column extending rearwardly fromsaid follower, whichcolumn is composed of a plurality of metal-facedrubber pads each of which is approximately twice as thick as the firstsaid pads, which latter pads are divided into groups by aligningfollower plates interposed between adjacent groups; heavy flanges onsaid follower plates extending forwardly and rearwardly therefrom anden-A References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,853,857 Glascodine et al Apr. l2, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,081 Australiaqu Nov. 24, 1931

